Franklin Park zookeepers wonder what the animals would say

In the just-opened film “Zookeeper,” the animals at the Franklin Park Zoo in Dorchester talk to Kevin James. That’s not the case for real-life zookeeper Siobhan McCann, who said she talks to the animals, but they don’t talk back.

By Dana Barbuto

The Enterprise, Brockton, MA

By Dana Barbuto

Posted Jul. 9, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 9, 2011 at 9:10 AM

By Dana Barbuto

Posted Jul. 9, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 9, 2011 at 9:10 AM

» Social News

In the just-opened film “Zookeeper,” the animals at the Franklin Park Zoo in Dorchester talk to Kevin James. That’s not the case for real-life zookeeper Siobhan McCann, who said she talks to the animals, but they don’t talk back.

In the film, the capuchin monkey, voiced by Adam Sandler, sounds like Gilbert Gottfried and the forlorn gorilla Bernie is brought to life by the raspy-sounding Nick Nolte. Other voices are husband-and-wife lion and lioness, Sylvester Stallone and Cher. Judd Apatow is a dopey elephant, Maya Rudolph is a giraffe, and a pair of romantic bears are Jon Favreau and Faizon Love.

“I do wonder what they would say and what their voices would sound like,” said McCann, of Quincy.

A gigantic “Zookeeper” movie poster greets visitors at the entrance of the zoo.

On the big screen, McCann said she thought the zoo looked like a “fantasy land.”

She watched the movie with other co-workers. “We giggled a lot, when Kevin James was hanging the toys and dropping the pail of jambalaya,” she said, quick to add, “We don’t feed the animals jambalaya.”

McCann said no day at the zoo is the same. Like a utility player in baseball, McCann rotates which animals she cares for, including the gorillas, lemurs, capybara, anteater and the hippos. Her tasks include feeding, cleaning, training, educating the public about wildlife, rounding up the animals for bed time.

She beams about the animals in her charge, just like a proud mom. Standing in front of the lemurs exhibit inside the Tropical Forest, McCann rattles off the names of the primates, who all look the same to an untrained eye.

“That one is Sofina. That’s Tango, over there is Lulu. Those are the two babies, yet to be named,” she said pointing to the two rambunctious lemurs born on March 31. “Nebbie is the mother of the twins.”

In “Zookeeper,” James is a beloved caretaker, dedicated to the animals. That’s rings true for McCann, too, who has bottle-fed baby animals, sat on the Zoo New England Enrichment Committee and three years ago traveled to the Narathiwat Province in Thailand to study hornbill birds in their natural habitat to better care for them in the zoo.

A zookeeper at Franklin Park for five years, McCann, a California native, started her career volunteering at the San Francisco Zoo when she was 14. She spent nine years there before moving onto the Oakland Zoo. Six years ago she moved to Quincy.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else,” she said.

Though, some days McCann said she comes home smelling like the animals she takes of.

“I take the T a lot, and I wear my uniform so if I smell, people know why,” McCann admitted, laughing. “I’ve also made the mistake of leaving gloves in my pockets with gorilla junk on them.”